Plainview City Manager responds to Paws Pet Adoption concerns about conditions at shelter

By Jayme Lozano AGN Media

Thursday

Aug 22, 2019 at 5:39 PM

Paws Pet Adoption of Plainview delivered a petition to City Hall this week with 3,277 signatures requesting that the city do more than its planned renovations to improve conditions at its animal shelter.

The city announced that renovations began a few weeks ago on more than $150,000 in upgrades to the Plainview Animal Shelter, including new lighting throughout the shelter, upgrades to the air ventilation system, resealing the floor and updates to the dog run area. One improvement being discussed for next year is the expansion of the facility to create an Adoption Center.

Volunteers for Paws Pet Adoption of Plainview, the pet adopt agency at the Plainview Animal Shelter, said they're thankful for the needed upgrades, but they're concerned the improvements won't amount to much because of what they describe as inhumane practices implemented by the Animal Control Manager, who has declined to comment.

"The city still refuses to address the true issue," said Teresa Topper, a board member for Paws. "They're going to put $150,000 toward some improvements which are needed because they let it get so run down and there hasn't been any done in so long, but the main issue is the head officer. He uses threats to kill animals as bully tactics for our volunteers."

Jeffrey Snyder, Plainview city manager, said they do not discuss personnel matters due to policy, but that any citizen can file a written complaint that will then be investigated in accordance to city policy. Snyder said the shelter passed recent inspections by the state.

"We have called in our state regulatory agency to inspect our facility on numerous occasions, and we have passed because of the work of our animal control officers," Snyder said of how they have handled past complaints. "The most recent one was a surprise inspection and we still passed that one." Still, he said, city officials are still working to improve conditions at the shelter.

But Topper said in the last five years of Paws being attached to the Plainview Animal Shelter, she and other volunteers have witnessed what Topper calls inhumane treatment from the people in charge of the shelter. Photos shared with A-J Media show dogs in unsanitary kennels with empty food and water bowls, feces in filled water bowls and on the floor that Topper says doesn't get cleaned for hours. Paws cleans their kennels daily and has offered to do the same for the shelter, but Topper says they are not allowed.

"We have offered to remove their dogs, clean the kennels for them and put the dogs back in, but we are forbidden from doing that," said Topper. "They fill up one bowl for each kennel in the morning and if something happens, they don't get water again until the next morning. That is inhumane and that's the sort of things we have battled with the City Council about, and they are not listening."

Another concern for the volunteers at Paws is the health of sick dogs in the shelter. Topper said there have been instances where the volunteers are denied access to give dogs medicine, dogs are held longer in kennels than the legal limit of 72 hours, and are rarely let outside to walk around.

"The longer they're in that environment, the more likely they are to get sick and die," said Topper. "We've had dogs that had a rescue to go to, but they were held for so long that they got sick before we could get them out."

The biggest fear for Paws is what they call the lack of oversight when it comes to the Animal Control officer euthanizing the animals, even if there is kennel space. According to the group's executive director, Cynthia Davidson, the euthanasia rates went from 78 percent to 54 percent since Paws joined. Despite a council meeting in June with Paws board members where they agreed to stop euthanizing pets until it was sorted out, the practice still hasn't stopped and there have been at least 14 dogs put down since then.

"One of the reasons the killing has slowed down is because there's so many Paws volunteers around that he's not able to," said Topper. "If they separate us, God help us all. It's a tense, fearful atmosphere."

Paws volunteers are not allowed to see impounded cats, though Topper said the glimpses they have seen shows cats are in the garage part of the shelter with no ventilation or light, and are kept in small rabbit cages with wire bottoms.

Snyder said Animal Control is a difficult job and a demanding area for officers, but they have all been trained to operate in accordance with city policy. The City Council is also looking to put together a focus group to get everyone on the same page, and that there are plans to update policies and procedures for Animal Control.

"We appreciate and value the relationship we have with folks who volunteer at our shelter," said Snyder. "We are looking forward to developing a plan and moving forward with positive change and improvements."

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